Sex Ed Plan On Agenda

Curriculum Is `Conservative'

ISLE OF WIGHT — The county's family life committee will present its recommendations to the school board tonight on how the county should adapt the state's sex education plan.

Warren Winter, director of instruction for the school system, described the committee's recommendations as conservative and matching community values. In December, the Community Involvement Team voted to choose the state's recommended "standards of learning objectives," which outline what should be taught in the family life curriculum. In tonight's meeting, the team will present its recommendation for what subjects should be taught at various grade levels.

Winter said there has been minor restructuring of the state's plan, with most of the movement being in areas that parents may not have thought about. For example, he said, the group moved to earlier grades the section teaching students about making friendships.

Other examples of the plan would assign a grade level to topics such as:

*Having students be able to identify human reproductive organs.

*Teaching the nature and purpose of dating.

*Having students develop skills in making parenting decisions.

The CIT will propose having family life taught from kindergarten to 12th grade. Winter said the group decided upon a K-12 structure because it felt there would be some issues confronting 11th and 12th graders that they should be able to learn about and discuss while they are experiencing them.

Using a K-10 program would likely be easier to implement, Winter said, in that the program could be plugged into the school health program, which is taught through the 10th grade.

In addition, the state mandated that time must not be taken from other instructional classes to teach family life.

Winter said he was pleased with the job done by the family life team in putting the program together, crediting the members for their ability to work toward a common goal, and group leader Dorothy James for holding the team together. "I think what we've come up with is good," he said.

Still remaining is to gather the materials needed to teach family life, as well as to decide who will teach the subject.

Localities are required to have a family life program in place by the 1989-90 school year, although not necessarily by the start of the year, Winter said.

Nonetheless, he said he thought the group was on track to have the program in place by the start of school Sept. 5.

The board is expected to act on the recommendation when it meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Isle of Wight Courthouse Complex.